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I found this summary of Perturabo and the Iron Warriors on Facebook and I think it's great. The only thing I don't understand about Perturabo's story is why he thought he would be in trouble about what happened on Olympia. Other legions had done things far worse and the Emperor hadn't ordered their deaths so why did Perturabo think the Emperor would in his case?
"I pose this question to the audience, when is the moment you realize that you’ve reached your limit? We all have that breaking point, something that shifts our perspective and inner self to finally act. So imagine this kind of reaction in a post human warrior let alone a Primarch. We have often been given glimpses of understanding of why the traitors chose their paths and truthfully a majority of the forces that sided with Horus were either insane, bitter, or had their own agenda. Perturabo is none of those things and this is where we will discover the reasons behind his fall.
The Iron Warriors were and are a unique experiment amongst the Legion Astartes, they were warriors and craftsman. These were individuals who knew the science of carefully constructing a fortress and understood the required force to reduce it to dust. Yet there is always a price for such devotion to ones craft. Instead of being lauded and praised they were reduced to breach fodder, warriors that you would expect to take down the most heavily defended strongholds in the galaxy. Imagine that kind of existence, constantly digging trenches and being thrown into wars that the other Primarchs and legions had no time for. The logic is sound; these post human genetic weapons were created for the purpose of breaching defenses why should they complain? Process that for a moment, they complain because at their core Astartes are still built from a human template, you can expect them to do what they were built for but eventually they will grow to understand that it is a thankless task.
There is a particular moment in Angel Exterminatus where we see how the Imperium viewed the sons of Olympia. An artist once depicted an apothecary of the Iron Warriors removing the gene-seed of a fallen brother. A somber image, which is desecrated by the Imperial Fists flag waving in the background. Perturabo bought the painting only to put it to the torch, an action that makes absolute sense even if you ignore the rivalry between the lord of Iron and Rogal Dorn. The honor of the war was soiled by an image of triumph of another legion instead of focusing on the bitter and painful loss of a brave warrior who gave his life to bring the word of the Emperor to another blighted world.
Unfortunately bitterness does not explain the genocide of Olympia, the world Perturabo and his legion called home. The actions of a small percentage of the population sealed the worlds fate, the Primarch, his sons, and some loyal regiments reduced the population to nothing but smoldering carcasses. The question is why did they take such horrific actions? The answer is simple, post traumatic stress, you’ve surely heard of this in soldiers who come back from war and have lost the ability to function in society, who are psychologically broken. Now imagine that happening in a genetically modified weapon, the Iron Warriors didn’t see the population as civilians they saw them as targets. Combined with the fact that the Primarch himself started the slaughter and you have them justifying or ignoring the actions as if they never happened.
With the last statement we move onto Perturabo, the lord of Iron, the bastard of Olympia. The depictions of him being a petulant child, obsessed with humiliating Rogal are at best idiotic. This was an individual who above all else strived for the perfect world, he longed to be a statesman, a leader beloved by his people. Instead he was saddled with the responsibility of destroying what it sometimes took hundreds of years to build. A person whose life’s purpose is usurped and thrown into the trenches as Perturabos was would eventually snap. After Olympia he didn’t crave adulation or respect, he craved one thing above all others, forgiveness and a way for the guilt to finally die. Horus offered him these things, yet at his core the honor of Perturabo remained unchanged, he refused to butcher the iron Hands who stood against him during a boarding action, allowing them to live, and humiliated Fulgrim in front of his warriors because of the insanity his brother now represented.
Does this mean Perturabos actions can be forgiven or overlooked? no. The Primarch said it best “no one lives in the past everyone is dead there”. Perturabo understood there was no forgiveness no matter how much he craved it. He knew the Emperor would have sanctioned his death after Olympia’s fall, he knew at his core that there was no way out. His eventual choice to ascend to Daemonhood is not a matter of a power or immortality, he already had those. He needed to obtain what so many of his fallen brothers had, a guilt free existence, one to remove the memory of the crimes he had committed. That makes all this more tragic, Perturabo is now trapped forever in a form that thrives on pain, misery, and resentment, he is his emotions given form, absolution was never a possibility, far from it he is now his own self loathing.
In the end everything the lord of Iron and his sons wished to accomplish was reduced to dust and rubble. You can only build so much from the bones of your enemies and in the end a legion that stood for honour , strength and faith was reduced to a broken clock winding down to its eventual and absolute corruption. It is true that from Iron cometh strength, yet strength without control is useless and that was the true lesson of Perturabo’s existence.
Let it forever be so."
"I pose this question to the audience, when is the moment you realize that you’ve reached your limit? We all have that breaking point, something that shifts our perspective and inner self to finally act. So imagine this kind of reaction in a post human warrior let alone a Primarch. We have often been given glimpses of understanding of why the traitors chose their paths and truthfully a majority of the forces that sided with Horus were either insane, bitter, or had their own agenda. Perturabo is none of those things and this is where we will discover the reasons behind his fall.
The Iron Warriors were and are a unique experiment amongst the Legion Astartes, they were warriors and craftsman. These were individuals who knew the science of carefully constructing a fortress and understood the required force to reduce it to dust. Yet there is always a price for such devotion to ones craft. Instead of being lauded and praised they were reduced to breach fodder, warriors that you would expect to take down the most heavily defended strongholds in the galaxy. Imagine that kind of existence, constantly digging trenches and being thrown into wars that the other Primarchs and legions had no time for. The logic is sound; these post human genetic weapons were created for the purpose of breaching defenses why should they complain? Process that for a moment, they complain because at their core Astartes are still built from a human template, you can expect them to do what they were built for but eventually they will grow to understand that it is a thankless task.
There is a particular moment in Angel Exterminatus where we see how the Imperium viewed the sons of Olympia. An artist once depicted an apothecary of the Iron Warriors removing the gene-seed of a fallen brother. A somber image, which is desecrated by the Imperial Fists flag waving in the background. Perturabo bought the painting only to put it to the torch, an action that makes absolute sense even if you ignore the rivalry between the lord of Iron and Rogal Dorn. The honor of the war was soiled by an image of triumph of another legion instead of focusing on the bitter and painful loss of a brave warrior who gave his life to bring the word of the Emperor to another blighted world.
Unfortunately bitterness does not explain the genocide of Olympia, the world Perturabo and his legion called home. The actions of a small percentage of the population sealed the worlds fate, the Primarch, his sons, and some loyal regiments reduced the population to nothing but smoldering carcasses. The question is why did they take such horrific actions? The answer is simple, post traumatic stress, you’ve surely heard of this in soldiers who come back from war and have lost the ability to function in society, who are psychologically broken. Now imagine that happening in a genetically modified weapon, the Iron Warriors didn’t see the population as civilians they saw them as targets. Combined with the fact that the Primarch himself started the slaughter and you have them justifying or ignoring the actions as if they never happened.
With the last statement we move onto Perturabo, the lord of Iron, the bastard of Olympia. The depictions of him being a petulant child, obsessed with humiliating Rogal are at best idiotic. This was an individual who above all else strived for the perfect world, he longed to be a statesman, a leader beloved by his people. Instead he was saddled with the responsibility of destroying what it sometimes took hundreds of years to build. A person whose life’s purpose is usurped and thrown into the trenches as Perturabos was would eventually snap. After Olympia he didn’t crave adulation or respect, he craved one thing above all others, forgiveness and a way for the guilt to finally die. Horus offered him these things, yet at his core the honor of Perturabo remained unchanged, he refused to butcher the iron Hands who stood against him during a boarding action, allowing them to live, and humiliated Fulgrim in front of his warriors because of the insanity his brother now represented.
Does this mean Perturabos actions can be forgiven or overlooked? no. The Primarch said it best “no one lives in the past everyone is dead there”. Perturabo understood there was no forgiveness no matter how much he craved it. He knew the Emperor would have sanctioned his death after Olympia’s fall, he knew at his core that there was no way out. His eventual choice to ascend to Daemonhood is not a matter of a power or immortality, he already had those. He needed to obtain what so many of his fallen brothers had, a guilt free existence, one to remove the memory of the crimes he had committed. That makes all this more tragic, Perturabo is now trapped forever in a form that thrives on pain, misery, and resentment, he is his emotions given form, absolution was never a possibility, far from it he is now his own self loathing.
In the end everything the lord of Iron and his sons wished to accomplish was reduced to dust and rubble. You can only build so much from the bones of your enemies and in the end a legion that stood for honour , strength and faith was reduced to a broken clock winding down to its eventual and absolute corruption. It is true that from Iron cometh strength, yet strength without control is useless and that was the true lesson of Perturabo’s existence.
Let it forever be so."
I don't know Office Space so unfortunately I can't comment. Angel Exterminatus had the best character portrayal of any Primarch so far IMO. Someone used the words "demented DaVinci" which I thought was bang on. I think Perturabo and the Iron Warriors were amongst the greatest tragedy of the HH. 
